Matthew Perry

Matthew Langford Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts, in 1969 and raised largely in Ottawa, Canada, where he was a nationally ranked junior tennis player. He moved to Los Angeles as a teenager to pursue acting, taking guest roles in series such as Growing Pains and Beverly Hills, 90210 before landing the part that would change his life at the age of twenty-four.

In 1994 Perry was cast as Chandler Bing on Friends, and over ten seasons his sarcastic, self-deprecating delivery became one of the most imitated comic voices in television history. He earned an Emmy nomination for the role and further nominations for The West Wing, while also starring in films including The Whole Nine Yards and Fools Rush In, and later in Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

Perry spoke openly about his long struggle with addiction, chronicled in his candid 2022 memoir Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing, and devoted much of his later life to helping others seek recovery. He died in Los Angeles in October 2023 from the acute effects of ketamine. His foundation continues his work supporting people battling addiction, and his humor endures with new audiences every year.